unsure of where they’ll end up after completing high school. Will they vanish for the next couple years of early adulthood, metamorphize into “proper” young adults, or rot in their parent’s basement whilst playing League of Legends?
For UMA’s 66 graduates last year, 25% matriculated to 4-year colleges, 30% to
2-year institutions, and 45% selected work, military service or technical instruction.
That’s an overall 55% to college/university institutions, to which a good majority of those
received scholarships.
Jonathan Kaiser of Class ‘24, was one of those people to earn a scholarship. “This school year, I’ve had the opportunity to attend multiple leadership conferences across the U.S., including in Chicago, New Orleans, and Las Vegas. UMA has played a big part in shaping who I am and who I am becoming. If it wasn’t for the opportunities I took advantage of in high school, I would never have been able to succeed like this.” Kaiser is currently studying Computer Science at Utah State University while also participating in Air Force ROTC.
Jace Greenamyer of ‘24 also shared his experience with college. “I would say that college was a real slap in the face for growing up.” Greenamyer said, “With me going to a military junior college, I am extremely grateful for Utah Military Academy, and the amount of training we did that we never even realized we were doing in the first place. In terms of academics, college is a lot more difficult than high school in the sense that you get less work but the work that you’re given is a lot more complex and requires most of your time to either study or work on.”
Anessa Brady of ‘24 had also submitted a response to her current situation with college. “College has definitely been a stretch from highschool. But I love that I am way more free than I was in high school. The workload is way different, but manageable if you stay on top of it.”
These former cadets were a large part of last year’s student core, but after
college, it’s hard to think where you’ll end up. Luckily for UMA, there’s a prime example
of how life after UMA is nearly a decade later. Zachary Sharkey of Class ‘16 is a well-known face around UMA, having just returned this school year after deployment in Poland. Before he left, he was an instructor at UMA post-graduation for many years, having found a connection to UMA to his career. “It guided me into determining that I wanted to be in education long term.”
